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Sarah Jessica Parker and Chris Noth in 'Sex And The City: The Movie' CREDIT: ALLSTARAnna Magee 25 JANUARY 2016 • 6:00AM
How much sex are we having? It depends who you ask. Last year, research by Relate on adults over 16 showed half had not had sex in the past month, but add middle age to the equation and it seems the older we are, the healthier our sex lives are becoming.
A landmark study on 7000 retirees from Manchester University last year showed more than half of men and a third of women were still sexually active over the age of 70.
Anna Magee
New research conducted by dating website illicitencounters.com has found that sign-up among the over-40s has doubled in the five years since its launch, with almost 50 per cent of married men and 36 per cent of married women over 40 reporting having had sex up to five times in the past month. Meanwhile, a landmark study on 7,000 retirees from Manchester University last year showed more than half of men and a third of women were still sexually active over the age of 70.
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While age doesn’t have to be barrier to a fulfilling sex life, however, biological changes can have a significant impact on libido and performance. So, what really happens to sex drive as we age and, more importantly, once it’s lost what can be done to get it back?
Nature’s Viagra
Prescriptions for Viagra-like drugs – used to treat erectile dysfunction (ED) in men – have doubled in the past decade with a staggering almost three million written in 2014. But heartening research on 25,000 middle-aged men published last week in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition found that consuming three or more portions of foods such as red wine, blueberries, cherries, citrus fruits and radishes could reduce a man’s risk of developing ED by 14 per cent. Men who exercised regularly reduced their risk by 21 per cent.middle age, libido becomes a bit like the stock market' writes Anna Magee
“These benefits are to do with flavonoids in these foods,” says Rob Hobson, a clinical nutritional therapist and author of the Detox Kitchen Bible (Bloomsbury Publishing, £17). “These compounds are known to help preserve blood vessel health and improve blood flow, which is essential to erectile functioning.”
Libido, age and your hormones
“As you reach middle age, libido becomes a bit like the stock market,” says Dr Ian Kerner, a sex psychologist based in New York City and author of She Comes First: The Thinking Man’s Guide to Pleasuring a Woman(Souvenir, £14.99), one of the highest-selling sex advice books in the United States.
“It’s up and down from day to day and reflects underlying dynamics such as relationship health and the participants’ diet, exercise and self-esteem,” he says.
Declining sex hormones play a big part in both desire and sexual functioning as we age.
Anna Magee
Declining sex hormones play a big part in both desire and sexual functioning as we age. In men, for every year after 40, the sex hormone testosterone drops by about one per cent, with one in five men tested showing low levels, says Vivek Wadhwa, consultant urological surgeon at Spire Parkway Hospital and Heart of England NHS Foundation Trust. “Along with low sex drive and erection problems, this can cause symptoms such as lethargy, poor sleep and short-term memory loss.”
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